Archives for March 2016

Since 2007, we have gone by the name Wrecking Ball Media Group. For many years, the name seemed apropos! Yes, we were focused on heavy tech work but we were starting to focus more on digital design, photography and video production. Ya know -- 'media work'.

So over the last decade our services vastly expanded while many people thought we were a 'media agency', a company that bought and sold ad space. So it got us thinking… perhaps it's time for a brand refresh and let the world know who we really are?

As a digital agency, we (and many others) are split into a few internal groups. When deducing it down to the core of the Agency, we are a Studio and a (Digital) Lab.

The Studio: Where greatness is forged, pixel by pixel, with sharp strategy and powerful design. From the dark arts of UX and UI, to video editing, digital publishing, integrated marketing campaigns, with the collaboration as agencies like SEO Cherry and others. In other words, problem solved.

The Lab: Our research center for all things binary. Where experimentation meets engineering, and curiosity is crash-tested then made ready for prime time. It's the playground for us geeks where we push technology (at times breaking it).

So, we adopted the name Wrecking Ball | Studio + Labs (or just Wrecking Ball). It is who we are and provides more clarity of our mission to the general public.

With the updated name we needed a new URL. As the squatter owner of 'wreckingball.com' is holding out for asking six-figures and up to purchase the domain name, obtaining that URL was not the best use of funds.

Good news is, 'getwrecked.com' was available.

The double entendre speaks for itself to the sense of humor we have as an agency. It definitely raises an eyebrow and gets others to chuckle. Ultimately, the true meaning is -- If you have a challenging project that needs to be done right, then work with us - Get Wrecked!

In January, Wrecking Ball was nominated as a best place to work in South Florida and the accolades didn’t end there. The South Florida Business Journal (SFBJ) also ranked Wrecking Ball #7 for this year’s Website Design & Development Companies list. Bringing Wrecking Ball into the Top 10 out of 80+ entries for the first time.

This is an accomplishment that the entire company is extremely proud of and we attribute our success to the hard work of our staff and colleagues. We would also like to thank the loyalty of our valued, client partners.

See the official companies list below from the South Florida Business Journal. Get wrecked!

Behance is the most popular website for creatives to show off their work. Naturally, showcasing your portfolio on a site like Behance is one of the most effective ways to promote your skills and talent. There are many approaches toward creating a portfolio on Behance. The 'boring' way is to simply insert pieces of your work on a solid background. The exciting way is to design all your portfolio pieces together into a single, harmonious design.

Here are a couple of fully designed portfolio page examples from Wrecking Ball:

Awww yeah! Pretty cool, huh? Are you interested in taking your Behance portfolios to the next level? This article we will give tips on how to make a knockout portfolio that gets you noticed.

1. Select your best work

Your Behance portfolio is most effective as a series of projects: one project per Behance page. If you don’t have much work to show, you could bundle many projects into a single Behance page. A Behance page shouldn’t display all of your work. It’s best to keep it short and sweet, selecting only your best pieces. We recommend selecting, at least, five pieces for a single Behance page.

Remember, it’s better to have a portfolio where you show a few of your best projects that are stunning. Showing many average projects would not be as attractive. The quality of your portfolio is only as good as your weakest project.

2. Share a backstory, complemented by a theme

Deep dive into your work and think about how you will present it. People are drawn to stories. Developing a brief backstory for your project will pull your viewers in. Talk about your story from the initial concept to early sketches, to the finished product. Start your story by showing the finished piece first, followed by your progress which led you to it.

Think about the style and general look and feel of your project to come up with a design for the layout. The design elements you come up with should compliment and enhance your project. Take a closer look at Wrecking Ball’s TWC onDemand project for an example:

Notice how artwork featured in the Adobe Inspire Digital Magazine is used as a decorative background.

3. Flaunt the medium

Using Adobe Inspire

Did you make a website? Then show it on a desktop, tablet, and smartphone. Did you make an app? Show it on its target device. Did you make a magazine? Then show people reading it. Emphasize the medium for the intended work. If possible, take pictures of people interacting with it. Otherwise, Google around for free templates where you can easily insert your work for a nice presentation. Here’s a collection of free tablet/smartphone templates.

4. Keep it simple

The design of your Behance page needs to be simple. We can’t stress the KISS principle enough. Avoid the temptation to make an elaborate design to push for a wow factor. Simplicity pushes your work to the surface, where it should be. Pick one font, pick a color scheme, and stick to it; keep the style consistent.

5. Craft a bio

An important part of your Behance portfolio is your Behance profile. Fill in your profile’s description with your story. Ask yourself, what’s your point of view? What’s your unique perspective on the creative world? What led you to develop this perspective? Answering these questions will help you zero in on your passion. Passion is infectious; putting it into words will make you shine.

6. Keep your Behance gallery fresh

Behance is a large, active community. Posting just once gets you ignored. Those who post on a regular basis attract an audience. Popularity is measured by likes and comments. Your posts on Behance become more reputable when you consistently attract engagement. Popularity has a snowball effect which increases the number of likes/comments. As you create new and better work, make sure you make additions to showcase your latest projects, but with the same focus on careful curation.